State Commissioner: EPA Regulations Could Threaten ND Power Grid

Oil train derailments and a Canadian pipeline explosion that left North Dakota's Red River Valley without power in the midst of subzero temperatures has energy infrastructure in the headlines. But one state official says the Environmental Protection Agency is "threatening" North Dakota's power system with new emission regulations, which, he says, are impossible to comply with.

"This is not an attempt to close down power plants," EPA Region 8 administrator Shaun McGrath said during the event, according to the Bismarck Tribune. "Coal needs to be part of our energy future." But Public Service Commissioner Randy Christmann says proposed emissions regulations for new power plants tell a different story, one that could mean a bottleneck for power in a growing state.

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